Safety guardrail



Patented Sept. 14, 1948 UNITED :S RATE T GFFl C E SAFETY GUARDRAIL p l rederick Schaefer, North, Blainfield, N. J. "ApplicationjFebruary28, 1947,' Serial No.17315649 4 Claims. (01. 20411) This invention relates to safetyguard rail devices and more particularly to a safety rail device adapted to be located behind' a door leading to adownwardly extending flight of steps.

A main objectof the invention is to provide a novel and improved guard rail device which is very simple in structure, easy to install and automatic in operation.

' Afurther object of the-invention is to provide an improved safety 'guard-rail'device for automatically warning a person" opening a door of the presence of a downwardly extending flight of steps behind the door, said guardrail device being inexpensive to manufacture, reliable in operation and involving only a few imple parts.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claims, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a doorway at the top of a flight of steps showing a guard rail constructed according to the present invention installed thereon, the railbeing shown in its doorway-obstructing position.

FigureZ is an enlarged jdetail elevational view partly in cross-section of th guard rail structure employed in 'Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan view oi the structure of Figure 2.

' Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is anenlarged detailvertical crosssectional view taken longitudinally through the hinge portion of the guard rail structure-of Figure 2.

Figure-G is a rear elevational view of the structure of Figure 5.

Referring to the drawings, l I designates a doorway leading to a downwardly extending flight of steps, such as cellar steps or the like. Hinged in a conventional manner in the doorway II is a door l2. Door I2 opens inwardly as viewed in Figure 1, that is, behind the plane of the paper.

Secured to the intermediate portion of the vertical door frame member l3 at the hinged side of the door is a bracket member "I comprising a body portion I5 adapted to be secured to frame member l3, said body portion being formed with a recess Hi from the sides of which project parallel lugs l1, l1 between which is pivoted an arm l8 adapted to swing about a horizontal axis l l. The pivoted end of arm I 8 includes a rounded abutment portion I9 adapted to engage the lower wall of the recess I6 at to thereby support the arm l8 in horizontal position, as shown in Figure 2. Arm i8 is biased by its weightto said horizontal, position. ;Said arm may be retained in a vertical position out of obstructing relation to the doorway, however, by a hooked catch member 2i secured in a recess 22 formed in thepivoted end portion of arm [8. Catch member 2! comprises a resilient finger having a hook 23 adapted to interlock with a hooked arm 24 carriedpn a squared transverse shaft 25 slidably carried in the bracket member l4 and extending acrossthe lowerportion of recess l'6. Encircling shaftzfi are coiled springs 25, 26 which bear respectively on the hooked arm Maud the inner wall surfaces of recess l6, thereby biasing arm 24 to an intermediate position in the recess where it may look-- ingly engage withthe hooked catch 2| whenthe arm is is raised to a vertical position.

shaft 25 projects laterally of bracket member Mon each side thereof, as shown at 21, 21. When door i 2 its closed, it engages one of the lateral projections 2! of shaft 25,- thereby moving shaft 25 axially and disengaging hooked arm 24 from catch 2!, allowing the arm It to drop toit'shori- Zontal doorway-obstructing position.

.Arm 18 has removably sec re o its ree ve d anyextension 28. which is adaptedto engagein a notched bracket 29 secured to the opposite doorway 'vertical frame member 3!! to preventthe guardrail from being swung horizontally when it is in its lowered position. The extension 28 is provided for relatively wide doorways. Where the doorway is of standard width the arm 18 may be employed without the extension 28.

When door i2 is closed arm 18 is in horizontal position,-so that when the door is opened the guard rail obstructs passage .to the stairway, thereby providing a warning of its presence. The guard rail may then be lifted to its vertical position where it is held by the interlocking latch elements 2! and 2 permitting access to the stairway. When the door I2 is again closed it slides shaft 25 axially, disengaging the latch elements and allowing the guard rail to drop to its horizontal position.

Since the shaft 25 projects laterally on both sides of the bracket member Id at 21, 21, the

- guard rail structure may be installed for pivoting with respect to either vertical door frame member l3 or 30.

While a specific embodiment of a doorway guard rail device has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur tothose skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the 3 invention other than as defined by the scope of the appended claims. What is claimed is: 1. In a doorway including a door mounted for opening and closing movement with respect to the arm is in out-of-obstructing position to thereby lock the arm in the latter position and releasable from each other upon slidable movement of said shaft in responseto closing movement of said door to thereby cause the arm to swing to its obstructing position, and resilient means operatively connected to said shaft and said arm for normally biasing said latch'means into engagement with each other.

2. In a doorway including a door mounted for Opening and closing movement with respect to said doorway, a guard device arranged Within said doorway adjacent to and spaced from said door and mounted for movement into and out of obstructin position with respect to said doorway, said device comprising a bracket member carried by a side-face of said doorway, an arm mounted in said bracket for swinging movement about a horizontal axis, a transverse slidable shaft carried by said bracket and actuable upon closing movement of said door, latch means on said arm and said shaft engaging each other when the arm is in out-of-obstructing position to thereby lock the arm in the latter position and releasable from each other upon slidable movement of said shaft in response to closing movement of said door to thereby cause the arm to swing to its obstructing position, resilient means operatively connected to said shaft and said arm for norm-ally biasing said latch means into engagement with each other, and means on the opposite side-face of said doorway and co-acting with the said arm when the latter is in its obstructingposition for retaining the arm in said position.

3. In a doorway including a door mounted for opening and closing movement with respect to said doorway, a guard device arranged within said doorway adjacent to and spaced from said door and mounted for movement into and out of obstructing position with respect to said doorway,

said device comprising a bracket member carried by a side-face of said doorway, an arm mounted in said bracket for swinging movement about a horizontal axis, a transverse slidable shaft carried by said bracket and actuable upon closing movement of said door, a catch member on said arm, a hooked arm carried by said shaft, said hooked arm engaging said catch member when the arm is in out-of-ob-structing position to thereby lock the. arm in the latter position and releasable from said catch member upon slidable movement of said shaft in response to closing movement of said door to thereby cause the firstnamed arm to swing to the obstructing position, and resilient means operatively connected to said shaft and said first-named arm for normally I biasing the hooked arm in engagement with said catch member.

4. In a doorway including a door mounted for opening and closing movement with respect to said doorway, a guard device arranged within said doorway adjacent to and spaced from said door and mounted for movement into and out of obstructing position with respect to said doorway, said device comprising a bracket member carried by a side-face of said doorway, an arm mounted in said bracket for swinging movement about a horizontal axis, a transverse slidable shaft carried by said bracket and actuable upon closing movement of said door, a catch member on said arm, a hooked arm carried by said shaft, said hooked arm engaging said catch member when the arm is in out-of-obstructing position to thereby lock the arm in the latter position and releas- V able fro-m said catch member upon slidable movement of said shaft in response to closing movement of said door to thereby cause the firstnamed arm to swing to the obstructingposition, resilient means embodying coiled springs circumposed about said shaft and operatively connected to said hooked arm and said first-named arm for normally biasing the hooked arm in engagement with said catch member, and means on the opposite side-face of said doorway and co-acting with said arm When the latter is in its obstructing position for retaining the arm in said position. FREDERICK SCI-IAEFER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are ofrecord in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Hinton Oct. 24, 1939 

